Chuck vs Silence
by Bad Shot
Summary: Chuck finally begins to feel the pressure of being the human intersect when his family and friends are targeted by Fulcrum. Eventual Charah. PART I of CHAPTER 4 Now up!
1. Chapter 1

Chuck vs Silence

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck. Wish I did, cause then we would be certain that it would be coming back for a third season.

_A/N: Okay I've had this idea just swirling around for a while in my head and decided to just go for it. Hopefully it all comes together fine, but with me, who knows. Also reviews always make me update faster *wink wink*  
_

Chapter 1

Blood slowly trickled out of the gash along the side of Sarah's head as she weaved her way in and out of the dense L.A. traffic. Her Porsche was pushed well into the triple digits in the hope that she could somehow make it in time.

She pulled off the highway and quickly found the abandoned office building that they had been at earlier that day. She pulled to a stop uncaring that she had ended up parking on the sidewalk in front of the building.

Sarah threw the door open and started off at a dead sprint for the lobby. She quickly pulled out her gun and scanned the room ensuring that no surprises would be waiting for her. She looked down at the ground and saw the remnants of glass that had been left there earlier from a chandelier and continued past.

Sarah dug into her pocket quickly finding her cell phone and checking to see if Chuck's GPS dot had moved. Fortunately it showed he was still in the building. Unfortunately for her it didn't help her know exactly where he was in the building.

Sarah thought back to earlier that day and guessed the most likely place that he would be. She started for the wide staircase that would bring her to the second level and at the top took a quick left. After twenty seconds of winding through the corridors she could hear a muffled voice coming from in front of her.

She turned another corner and encountered a heavy wooden door. She quickly tried the doorknob only to find it locked, "Damn it!" she swore to herself dropping to one knee and beginning to pick the lock. Under normal circumstances she could have easily picked the look but the seriousness of the situation caused her to fumble with the lock a few times before she finally heard the click.

Sarah reached down to the ground and picked up her sidearm careful to keep it level when she opened the door.

The door slowly creaked open giving Sarah a view of the room. The room was painted a generic white and at the far end a lone mahogany desk set next to a floor to ceiling window. On the left side there was a small tan couch where a lone bullet hole stood out in the otherwise pristine room.

As her eyes swept the room she finally came upon the object of her current situation. Sarah walked into the room her gun was steady as it aimed at the back of one man. Sarah walked further into the room and got a better look at the man who was standing. The curly brown hair was unmistakable to her, "Chuck," no response, "Chuck!" Sarah said more forcibly. Still no response from him.

Sarah continued her venture into the room and saw the reason for Chuck being here. There was a man in front of Chuck, he was dropped down onto both knees and was looking intently up at Chuck with a small smile on his face. In the moonlight Sarah got a clear look at the man's face and groaned recognizing the sleeked back blonde hair, small scar on his chin, and of course the complete absence of a middle finger on his right hand.

She kept her gun aimed at Chuck although her hands had a slight tremor in them now, "Now Chuck you don't want to do anything stupid. If you stop this right now there is no reason this can't end up with a happy ending."

This finally got a reaction out of Chuck. He let out a small pitiful laugh, "Really you think everything will be all right," the tears were evident in his wavering voice, "Well tell me how the HELL is everything going to be right, when nothing is going the way it should?"

"Chuck I understand…" Sarah started but Chuck cut her off.

"No. No you don't understand! You could never understand!" Chuck cried out. He finally turned his head around and Sarah was able to see the tears that were streaming down his face, "Ellie's dead. Don't you get it nothing can be normal again?" Chuck paused waiting for a response, "You don't know anything," Chuck stated before turning back to the other man.

Sarah shut her eyes tight willing herself not to break down right here. As soon as she opened them she saw the glint of metal in Chuck's right hand that had slowly started to rise. Sarah quickly realized that Chuck had a gun in his hand and pulled her own back up leveling it off at Chuck again, "Don't make me do this Chuck. Please don't make me shoot you, we have lost enough already," this time Sarah didn't even try to stop the tears.

Chuck opened his mouth as if to say something but closed it unable to find the words. He closed his own eyes the gun in his hand now pointing at the man's head, wobbling intensely. He finally summoned up the courage to speak, "I'm sorry Sarah."

"Chuck, NO!"

**Bang**

***

48 Hours Earlier

"I don't think you understand Mr. Chuck. This camera was working just fine when I bought it from your store, now I come back twenty-four hours later and you tell me that there is nothing to worry about," a short balding man yelled at Chuck who sat behind the Nerd Herd desk only half listening.

"And I will tell you again sir, your camera is working fine," Chuck said a hint of exasperation in his voice that he tried to hide from the client.

"Then why in god's green earth will it not turn on?" the man said poking Chuck with a short stubby finger.

Chuck gave out a small sigh and his eyes rolled in his head. Sometimes this job was just downright degrading, "Well that might be because you are pressing the zoom in button and not the power button," he tried to keep all sarcasm out of his voice but failed miserably.

Luckily the man was sufficiently embarrassed and did not pursue the subject further, opting to walk away without another word.

Chuck slowly tuned around in his chair determined to do some real work to keep his mind from wandering. He gave a small jump when he turned only to find Jeff's face about half a foot away from his own, "What do you want now Jeff?"

Chuck made an attempt to stand up but Jeff quickly pulled him back down onto the chair and started to look around in an attempt to ensure no one was listening in. Satisfied that no one would hear them Jeff started talking, "I need your help oh great leader of the Herd."

Chuck's face scrunched up in confusion, "Okay buddy, what is it that you need help with?"

"Lester."

"Lester?"

"Yeah we are having a prank war, and I am offering you an alliance to take him down," Jeff wiggled his eyebrows at him as if that would somehow entice Chuck to join in.

"As much as I would like to Jeff I'm pretty booked and… Actually let me just give you some truth here. The last time I got involved in one of your prank wars you spiked my beer and I came too three hours later in the Herder, which just happened to be wrapped in duct tape. So you might understand why I really, and I can't emphasize enough REALLY don't want to get involved," Chuck forced a smile and stared to spin the chair back around.

"But Chuck I need you! I mean it Lester already got me bad. He got me banned from Bennigan's for the week," Jeff pleaded getting down on his knees in a mockery of a proposal.

Chuck recoiled at the thought of a somewhat sober Jeff for once, "Ouch buddy, but again can't help really busy with work related activities right now."

It was at that moment that Casey chose to come, walking with a determination that could only mean one thing, "Chuck we got a situation."

"Yeah, yeah one second Casey I got important things to do right now," Chuck stated trying to get a rise out of the NSA agent. Unfortunately it worked a little too well.

Casey just let out a growl and before Chuck knew what was happening he was being dragged by his tie, along with the chair from behind the Nerd Herd desk towards the front doors.

The chair hit a small bump in the floor and started to fall over, with Chuck in it. He barely managed to catch himself before hitting the ground, "Okay Casey you can really let go, my legs work fine."

Casey let out a rare laugh, "Really so you're telling me those pop sickles you have for legs can actually withstand your weight?"

A small flash of hurt came over Chuck's face, "I will have you know that they are not pop sickles. I would at the very least put them more in the tree branch family or something slightly stronger."

Casey grinned at Chuck and let him go, and started off to the Orange Orange at a fast pace. Chuck nearly had to jog next to him to keep up.

"So do we have a mission? Or something else, maybe a stakeout? Come on Casey give me something," Chuck probed trying to get some kind of reaction from the agent.

Right outside the door Casey quickly spun around so fast that Chuck ended up walking right into him. Casey quickly pushed him up against the wall and held him there with one hand, "Listen idiot, we finally got a mission that is guaranteed to let me have some fun. Now I swear if you do anything to screw this up I will make sure you wish that you never met me."

Chuck laughed nervously unable to be sure whether he was being serious or joking, "I think I have to make the point that I already wish I hadn't met you."

Casey just rolled his eyes and growled, mumbling to himself, "Stay calm Casey he's not worth it."

Chuck gave him a look and tried to fish for some more information, "So this mission is…" he paused trying to get Casey to fill in the blanks.

The NSA agent gave Chuck a small smile, "Now that's the good part. Lots of gun play and hopefully for me, that means not having to deal with you for a whole night. That is if you are okay with Walker babysitting you tonight," Casey said not even waiting for the answer because he already knew what it was. He let Chuck go and walked into the Orange Orange with a little hop in his step and a smile.

Chuck rubbed his shoulder where Casey had held him, "Well sounds like a great mission," he said sarcastically. He could already hear the chorus of, 'Stay in the car Chuck,' that was sure to come.

_A/N: I hope you liked it. Trust me this will eventually be Charah even though it is kinda hard to see it now.  
_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I still do not own Chuck as much as I wish I did.

A/N: Thank you guys so much for the reviews it really motivates me to keep writing with my caffeine induced spurts. Sorry for the long wait in between posts I will try and get better. Also I am looking for a good Beta-reader that I can bounce ideas off of and look my work through before I post. Contact me either over my profile or send me an e-mail, I will probably respond faster to an e-mail. NOW ONTO THE STORY!!!

Chapter 2

Chuck slowly followed Casey into the Orange Orange rubbing his shoulder and mumbling under his breath about Casey's behavior. He walked slowly over to the door that led down to the secret facility. In a rare act of kindness Casey had left the door slightly ajar so that Chuck would be able to get in easily.

Chuck shoved the door behind him until he heard the loud metallic click that announced that it was now locked. He walked down the stairs looking down at Sarah and Casey, both of whom were already sitting down waiting for him.

Neither of the agents verbally acknowledged his presence, although Sarah threw a small smile his way before looking back to the monitor. Chuck followed her gaze over to the monitor, when he reached the base of the stairs, and noticed that General Beckman was already waiting.

"Nice of you to join us Mr. Bartowski, now if you would please sit down we can finally start this briefing," Beckman said the disdain for Chuck's tardiness clearly evident in her voice.

Chuck opened his mouth as if to make a sarcastic comment but decided against it, and opted instead to just take a seat.

Without preamble Beckman launched right into the briefing, "Your mark's name is Roy Parini, he is a former Navy Seal and civilian contractor for the CIA. He has been suspected as a Fulcrum operative ever since he went off the grid nearly two years ago. It looks like we caught a lucky break as he was spotted on a camera entering LAX three days ago."

Beckman posted the somewhat grainy, black and white picture of Parini and Chuck felt the familiar sensations overcome him as his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

_A cow grazing in an open field._

_Parini's dossier and full details on all missions from the SEAL's._

_Several bank statements from untraceable accounts in the Caymans._

_Several reports on assassinations in the last two years._

_A cow grazing in an open field._

Chuck slowly came out of his flash and shook his head trying to refocus on the world around him. Sarah and Casey were both looking at him having noticed the familiar effects of a flash. Sarah spoke up first and asked, "What did you see Chuck?"

"Well not much really, the guy is like Christopher Lee in, The Man with the Golden Gun, he is basically a killing machine. Apparently he is now an assassin for whoever bids the highest. No real home the guy just floats around to wherever his job takes him. The guy's only distinguishing feature is the lack of a middle finger on his right hand," Chuck rattled off trying to process the information the Intersect had fed him, "I wonder what he would do if someone cut him off on the highway," seeing the confused looks on the other's faces he continued, "I mean I'm not saying I do it, but if a guy just cuts in front of me while I'm driving I might want to flick him off. I mean I guess he could always just use the other hand to flick someone off but still…" Chuck slowly trailed off noticing the harsh look that General Beckman was shooting him.

"Thank you Mr. Bartowski for your… Unique input on the situation, but feel free to keep your inquiries about others to yourself in the future," Beckman stated her tone making it apparent that she had not found his speech funny, "Now back to what we are actually here for. The asset is right. We have been suspecting that Parini has been an assassin for a while now. We were hoping that the Intersect could tell us what he was in L.A. for."

Casey snorted, "So basically the asset's information was useless," he stated sending Chuck a grin, "Great now we found another job that you can't do."

Chuck searched his mind for an effective come back, but found none so instead he just crossed his arms and dropped back further into the chair. Sarah could sense Chuck's anger towards Casey so she tried to change the subject, "If we don't know why he is here General, what do you want us to do?"

Beckman now fixed her stare on Sarah, "Find out why he is here, of course. Unfortunately we have no idea where Parini is right now, but we do know where he will later tonight. We intercepted an e-mail to one of Parini's known contacts which shows that a meeting will take place tonight."

Casey looked shocked at this turn of events, "General when you called me you told me that this would be an offensive mission, not just another surveillance operation," the disappointment was so evident on Casey's face that Chuck and Sarah both had to try and suppress grins. Sarah was able to keep herself from aggravating Casey, whereas Chuck couldn't help but annoy him, and shot a huge grin his way.

"Don't worry agent Casey, the mission is not about surveillance, it is about gathering mass amounts of intelligence on Fulcrum motivations and objectives. Instead of doing a simple reconnaissance, agents Casey and Walker will attempt to apprehend Parini at the meeting and bring him into Castle where you will extract any information pertaining to Fulcrum by any means neccesary," Beckman stated plainly, "The asset will monitor your video feeds to see if he flashes on anything to suggest that Parini's contact is with Fulcrum as well."

Casey quickly spoke up obviously very enthusiastic now that he was guaranteed some action tonight, "Do we have any information on his contact?" Casey asked.

"The contacts name is Nassir Maumood; he is a former Republican guard during Desert Storm who just came back onto our radar after five years underground. That is all the information we have for you on this assignment. I trust that you will be able to handle it on your own from this point," Beckman said before terminating her connection, leaving only a blank screen.

Chuck was staring off into space and asked, "What does a guy do all by himself for five years?"

Casey grunted at Chuck, "Oh you know he probably just went and worked at a crappy job, and cried about his former girlfriend for a while. It seems like a very productive way to spend five years," he said sarcasm lacing every one of the words.

Chuck let out a fake laugh, "Oh ha-ha Casey very funny," he began to walk away when he felt a soft hand on his shoulder.

Turning around he was met with Sarah's eyes gazing at him, "Chuck we need to talk," she quickly turned back to look at Casey who was pretending to not listen to their conversation, "Alone," she stressed.

Casey grunted again and stood up, "Sorry about that. Guess I just couldn't wait for another episode of this stupid soap opera you two have been stars in," he said sarcastically before walking up the stairs and back over to the Buy More.

Chuck looked confused and apprehensive not knowing exactly what this was about, "So Sarah what do we need to talk about?"

"Chuck I know that I… We have told you this before but it is imperative that you stay in the car on this mission. Parini is extremely dangerous and Casey and I can't be worrying about you during this mission. Plus we have no clue if he has any backup while he is here," Sarah said her eyes now gazing into Chuck's trying to get him to understand the seriousness of the situation.

"I get it. I get it. Stay in the car Chuck," he replied sounding annoyed and tired with the situation.

Sarah shook her head at him her anger slowly building, "No Chuck you do not get it! Do you have any idea what would happen if Parini found out you were involved. If for some reason Casey, and I screwed up?" Chuck's silence gave her the answer, "Exactly you have no idea. He would destroy you, and not just your physical body, he would kill everyone that you ever cared about and make sure that you had to watch every single one of them unable to do a damn thing about it. Chuck you need to know this no matter how hard it is for you, no matter what happens to me or Casey; you cannot let him find out who you are. You mean too much to…" Sarah paused able to catch herself before revealing too much, "… to the mission."

Chuck looked at her resigned to his fate and decided to not try and push further, "Okay fine I promise I won't leave the van under one condition."

Sarah sighed but sensed he wouldn't budge, "Name it."

"Stop the act."

"Stop what act?" Sarah asked her confusion written on her face.

Chuck looked surprised that she didn't get what he was hinting at and looked down at the floor in defeat, "Forget it. I get it I mean all of it was a mistake anyways right? Nothing that happened between us was real anyways so why should I even care," he started off speaking to Sarah but by the end of his little speech he was speaking mostly to himself.

Sarah just stood there in shock. He had never been that upfront with her about their relationship under the fake relationship before, but there was nothing she could say. If she did acknowledge it Chuck would again have the false hope that they had a future. The agent Sarah and the women Sarah battled within her to decide what to say, but as always the agent won out and she stood there stoic and unmoving, not trusting her voice enough to speak.

Chuck turned around and walked away a defeated man, "I forgot to mention that Ellie wanted you over for dinner tomorrow, that is of course if it fits in with your busy schedule," he said without even bothering to turn around while ascending the stairs.

Sarah finally shook herself out of it and responded, "That sounds fine Chuck."

The only way Sarah knew that he had heard her was the small wave her threw her way before turning the corner out of the facility.

Sarah sighed and sat down her head slowly dropping into her hands. She sat like that for a minute looking nothing like the person she showed to the outside world. She got up and walked over to the punching bag that was hung downstairs determined to keep her mind off of Chuck.

***

Chuck slowly made his way over to the Buy More but stopped about halfway over and slowly let himself slide down the side of a parked car. He had tried to be strong and wait for Sarah to eventually realize that they were perfect for each other, but the continued rejections were starting to get to him.

He let his head drop into his hands and tried to think about anything but the blond goddess, her role as his cover girlfriend a constant reminder that he could never truly have her.

He sat there mulling over his thoughts before finally gathering up the courage to go back into the Buy More and live his normal boring life. Chuck quickly walked through the front doors and sped to the back of the store. He strode into the cage and as if on auto pilot began to fix the old computers, determined to keep his mind off of Sarah.

A/N: For all you Charah fans I added in the scene at the end for you otherwise it would have been just a filler chapter. No matter what your opinion is give me your review. Reviews do make me write faster. Also as I said earlier I am looking for a beta so anyone who is interested can contact me.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck as much as I wish I did.

A/N: Okay here you go. Love the huge amount of story alerts I have got but to actually hear what you thought was good or bad about the chapter helps a lot too. Sorry again about the lack of updates but I have been really pissed about Chuck being on the bubble and it was hard to find my muse again. But no she is back so hopefully the updates will come faster now. I know this is a little bit shorter of a chapter than I promised but it just kind of seemed right to end it here.

Chapter 3

The walk to the front of the Buy More seemed to take years to Chuck. His shift had ended nearly forty minutes ago but he continued to fix the old computers, not yet ready to face the real world. He walked dejectedly to the front; his shoulders noticeably slumped while his tie had been loosened to the point where it was just barely staying around his neck. He dragged his feet and kept his head low, not really listening to the faint music that came from his I-pod's headphones but grateful for the distraction it provided.

Morgan noticing his best friend's foul mood and left his customer in the middle of a potential sale to walk after Chuck determined to question him, much to the loud protest of his former customer.

Chuck noticed Morgan's attempt to get near him and decided to keep his head down and walk a little bit faster as if he didn't see or hear him. Chuck however had forgotten Morgan's intense need to feel close to him and was surprised when Morgan broke out into a full on sprint to make it to Chuck before he made it out of the store, "Chuck!" the diminutive man yelled, "Hey man what has gotten into you?"

Chuck continued to ignore his friend's comments and kept on walking out the door. He had nearly made it to the Herder when Morgan actually managed to run in front and place himself between Chuck and the car. He groaned, mad at his friend who had been able to catch him, but mostly mad at himself that he let Sarah affect him so much. Ripping the I-pod's headphones out of his ear Chuck decided to finally acknowledge his presence, "What do you want Morgan?" Chuck lashed out verbally at Morgan, who was stunned by the harsh tone his voice had taken.

Morgan visibly recoiled at the tone but quickly came back at Chuck, his own anger mounting at his friend's harsh treatment, "Dude seriously what is with the tone? You haven't been this mad since I leaked the beta version of the last Call of Duty game."

Once again trying to ignore his friend Chuck began to walk past Morgan to try and get into his car. Morgan not backing down though continued to block his path moving side to side to compensate for Chuck's movements. Chuck gritted his teeth together and growled out the next few words, "Morgan. Get out of my way."

When Morgan refused to move from his position Chuck did something that neither of them really expected. He gathered his strength and shoved Morgan, who tripped over his own feet and landed on the cold, hard pavement the shock evident in his wide eyes.

Chuck himself was just as shocked as Morgan if not more so. He tried to gather himself and held his hand out to his friend who in turn refused it. Morgan picked himself off the pavement, and brushed the dirt off of the back of his khakis never taking his eyes off of Chuck. Neither of the two spoke for a while until Morgan managed to find his voice, "Okay man I get it. You are just not in the mood right now," he paused trying to formulate something to say next, "But dude. That was just not cool. I don't care how mad you are. Think of all the times we have been there for each other," Chuck stared at Morgan, "Okay fine maybe think of all the times you have been there for me. Either way man, I was just trying to help you. I don't know what got you like this but I think I can forge a guess. Sarah?"

Chuck visibly tightened up at the mention of her name and his hand's formed fists that he held at the side of his body. His eyes became steely and unreadable much like Sarah's did when Chuck talked to her about their relationship. Chuck realized this and became even more detached from the situation forcing himself to look unfazed and emotionless on the outside, 'Well I learned from the best,' Chuck thought to himself referring to Sarah's repeated voyages into what he liked to call, 'Agent Mode' when confronted with real emotions.

Morgan however saw the subtle differences in his best friend and knew that his guess had been spot on. When he figured it out the Buy More employee tried to think of something to say that would cheer Chuck up but realized that maybe it would be best if Chuck was left alone with his thoughts for the moment. He shoved his hands into his pockets and shook his head at Chuck before starting to slowly walk back into the Buy More. He had made it about fifteen feet away when he stopped determined to at least try and help Chuck. He spun around on his heels and called out to Chuck. Chuck had still not moved from the spot in front of his car but tilted his head at the sound of Morgan's voice, "Hey buddy I want to leave you with at least one piece of advice tonight so that I don't feel horrible tomorrow," Chuck made no move to stop him so Morgan continued, "Is all this crap you go through with her really worth it?"

Chuck turned around towards Morgan and opened his mouth. But found himself unable to come up with an answer.

"I mean at times you are as happy as I have ever seen you. But some days it's just… Well it's like Jill times five," Morgan looked down at the ground before continuing his walk towards the Buy More, "Just think about it man," he called over his shoulder before the electronic doors closed behind him with a faint hiss.

Chuck looked at the now closed doors before his gaze slowly started to redirect to the tops of his shoes. He buried his face in his right hand furious at himself for how the situation had gone. He knew that he would have to find some way to make it up to his bearded friend but realized that tonight's mission would interfere with any plans. Chuck quickly fished in his pockets until he found his keys and unlocked the Herder.

Slipping behind the wheel, Chuck let himself sit there wallowing in his own self pity at his own impossible situation. Morgan's question shot around his mind like someone had unleashed a virus that just continued to grow and eat at him. Even now after sitting in the car for nearly five minutes he was still unable to answer his friend's question.

Letting his head rest on the rubber steering wheel in front of him Chuck made up his mind. Tonight after the mission Chuck would confront Sarah one last time and let her decide if what they had was worth the trouble.

***

Casey strode across the courtyard over to the window of Chuck's room and prepared himself to enter the nerd's bedroom. He quickly shoved the window frame up until it was open enough to allow him to slip inside. It was nearly nine o'clock and Chuck was nowhere to be seen. Casey walked around the rest of the room and peered out into the hallway to see if Ellie had distracted Chuck.

Luckily Captain Awesome had a late shift tonight so he would not be a problem.

Casey's head whirled around when he heard the unmistakable sound of a car screeching to a stop in front of the apartment complex. Casey's hand unconsciously went to the back of his jeans were his gun was hidden and pulled it out, his thumb deftly flicking off the safety.

Making his way back to the window Casey gave a snort when he was who had been driving the car, "Your boy toy isn't here yet Walker," he saw a small flash of guilt across her face but she quickly replaced it with the stoic, emotionless face she normally kept for missions, "I wonder if this would have anything to do with your… talk with the asset earlier," Casey pondered aloud never giving up a chance to try and rile up the usually unflappable Agent Walker.

Sarah just shot him an icy look and didn't even bother verbalizing her thoughts. She walked up to the window that Casey had just left and scanned the room inside as if the NSA agent had somehow missed Chuck, "Do you know if he left work yet?" She asked Casey trying to keep her voice down to avoid attracting any unwanted spectators.

Casey snorted and looked at her with annoyance, "The idiot should have. He got off about an hour after me so he should be here by now," Casey stated, "Unless of course something you said to him caused the nerd to back out."

Sarah heard the veiled challenge that laced Casey's words but refused to give him the satisfaction of accepting it, "Agent Casey your mission is to protect the Intersect. Am I correct in saying this?" Casey nodded begrudgingly not liking where Walker was going with this line of questioning, "Then I would really prefer if you actually took your assignment seriously rather than trying to piss me off."

Even though Casey loved to push the CIA skirt's buttons, he knew that she would only take so much and right now he had reached that invisible boundary that even he wouldn't pass, "Don't get your panties in a twist. I'm sure if you just check the tracker in his watch you will see that the little twerp is fine."

Sarah looked at Casey for a few more seconds before turning away and pulling out her own phone. She mumbled under her own breath about how stupid she was. She had let her fear about Chuck's whereabouts compromise her own thought process, and though she hated to admit it, she hadn't even given a thought to checking one of the GPS locators on Chuck's person. Her thoughts were interrupted when a small beep came from her phone and Chuck's small dot began to transmit his location.

Sarah hadn't even noticed that Casey had snuck up right behind her and was peering over her shoulder at the phone's screen, "See I told you. He is in his stupid little car and will be here any minute now," Casey exclaimed proud that he had been right in this case.

Casey turned around and started off for his apartment without another word to Sarah who mindlessly followed him lost in her own thoughts. The two agents walked around the apartment in silence gathering up the necessary supplies for the mission.

***

Chuck's car turned into a parking space about five minutes later and the lanky nerd stepped out of the car quickly chugging the last of whatever energy drink he had picked up at the gas station. He walked over to the, 'Morgan Door,' which he noted was wide open. Chuck just shook his head and made a mental note to yell at Casey about keeping his window open later, and threw his bag into the room before closing the window.

He stuck his hands in his pockets to keep them from the surprisingly cool night air, and walked across the courtyard to Casey's apartment. He lifted one hand up to knock on the door but before his hand could make contact with the wood, the door opened, and on the other side of it was none other than Sarah Walker, the one person he as of yet hadn't gathered the courage to talk to. Even though he had decided he would talk to Sarah after the mission he had not really had a clear plan on what he should say to her yet. His lack of confidence in the current situation caused his greeting to be rather terse. A quick, "Hey," was all she got before Chuck made his way past her into Casey's living room.

Sarah stood at the door momentarily stunned by Chuck's cold welcome. She rebounded quickly and slammed the door shut and began to berate Chuck about being late, effectively stopping the flood of emotions Chuck's actions brought her, "I thought we talked about this earlier. You need to start taking these missions seriously, part of that is making sure you get here on time," she said emphasizing the last few words, to convey her disapproval of his tardiness.

Chuck sunk into one of Casey's leather armchairs and leaned back calmly taking every condescending word that Sarah threw at him. He knew that acting as if he didn't care would annoy the hell out of Sarah, but at the moment he felt that if he did actually try to talk to Sarah he would end up saying something stupid, which would just make the situation worse. So instead he chose to get up and pour himself a glass of water. He took small sips of the cool beverage and leaned against the kitchen counter, opting to instead address Casey while still avoiding Sarah piercing eyes, "So Casey are we ready yet?"

The NSA quickly looked up from the gun he was currently assembling, towards Sarah before giving Chuck a stern glare. The glass made small noises as Chuck's hand experienced involuntarily tremors, but even though he was clearly nervous and uncomfortable he continued to hold Casey's gaze until the man relented, "Well since you finally thought that you could fit us into your busy schedule, I guess we have to go now."

Unlike most other times Chuck remained silent, nodding at Casey before setting his glass down and walking to the door. Casey grunted at Sarah who remained standing looking at the spot where Chuck had been leaning just a few seconds earlier. He got up and slung the large black bag, that contained what he happily called his, 'toys,' or in other words, a lot of guns. He had started to follow Chuck out the door but stopped when he was at the doors threshold, "Before we leave I have to ask you something."

Sarah remained in the same spot she had been standing but turned towards Casey while absentmindedly twirling a knife around her fingers. She didn't say anything but waited for the inevitable question. She had realized at least one thing about Casey in their nearly two years of working together, once he picked up a scent he would never stop. It was one of the aspects of Casey that made him an amazing field agent, but one of the most horrible people you could ever have involved in your social life.

"Is all this crap you go through with Chuck worth the end result?" he asked. The confusion in his voice was obvious and Sarah was stunned by the question.

She had expected Casey to just say something along the lines of, 'What the hell are you doing?' or something else that she could lie her way through. This time though there was no wiggle room for Sarah. No way that she could turn the question back on him to keep her feelings pushed down where Casey would never see them. So she decided to take the coward's way out, and instead refuse to answer.

They stood there facing each other Casey's eyes probing Sarah for any movement that would give away her true feelings on the subject. Eventually the silence was broken by the sound of the Crown Victoria's horn. Chuck had clearly gotten sick of waiting and had inadvertently ruined a moment that could have been beneficial to his and Sarah's relationship.

Without taking his eyes off of his blond partner Casey spoke up, "I guess your boy is ready, even if you aren't."

Sarah finally found her legs again and starting to walk towards the door. Casey smirked at her and muttered under his breath, "Why do I get stuck with the most annoying couple in history," he held the door open for her and they stepped out in the courtyard both of the agents mentally preparing themselves for their mission.

Next Chapter: The mission. Sarah and Chuck finally talk, and to top it all off the events that start Chuck down his dark path will finally be put into motion.

A/N: Again thank you so much for reading this. Review people, come on you know you want to hit that button!


	4. Chapter 4 Part I

Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck, however sad that makes me it is true.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews again guys, and again sorry for how long it takes me to update, I'm getting mad at how long it is taking them to announce that NBC has renewed Chuck so I haven't been in the mood to write as much.

Chapter 4

The black van slowly rolled to a stop next to the curb. The three people that were currently sitting inside of the van sat quietly barely moving a muscle. The silence engulfed them, and even normally insignificant sounds, like a rat scurrying over metal in the alley, seemed to echo across the pitch black, Californian night.

Unlike the two highly trained agents that sat in front of him Chuck's nerves started to get the better of him. The pictures of Parini's successful kills acquired from the intersect flashed across his eyes, and he couldn't help but think about what it would look like of Sarah, or even Casey was one of his next victims. He jumped at nearly every sound that broke him out of his thoughts and he began to feel the familiar nervousness that accompanied each of these missions.

The Nerd Herd supervisor's thoughts eventually began to turn to his inevitable confrontation with Sarah that night. After finally mustering up the courage to talk to her, he started to wonder whether he would actually be able to go through with it when the time came.

Once again his thoughts were broken, but this time by a soft voice coming from inside the van, "The contact has arrived," Casey stated coldly, still angry about how they had been forced to abandon his Crown Victoria at the Orange Orange in exchange for the surveillance equipped van.

Sarah who was currently using binoculars to get a closer look at the contact spoke up, "He has a gun on his right hip under the jacket," the comment was meant for Casey, but Chuck visibly stiffened up at the mention of a gun. Even though his status as the only human intersect had forced him to encounter guns on a daily basis he still hated and even feared them.

Nassir looked around his hands shoved firmly in his pockets as he leaned against the brick building next to him. He continued to scan the street for anything suspicious. His eyes eventually landed on the van, but the massive plumbing service logo Casey had put on the side seemed to ease his suspicions. The former Republican guard walked a little bit farther before turning into an abandoned office building.

They waited another few minutes before a human figure slowly began to emerge in the distance. The figure had a Los Angeles Dodgers hat pulled low on his head. A heavy tan trench coat completed the outfit and also made it impossible for Sarah to tell if he had a weapon on him, "There's the bastard," Casey said sliding farther down the seat so it would be harder to spot him.

The person who Casey assumed to be Parini continued to slowly walk towards them barely illuminated by the street light behind him.

He continued to walk towards them his speed remaining constant the entire time. Parini started to slowly come to a stop at the exact location that his contact had stopped before him. Parini gave a quick glance at the wall and something on it seemed to spur him to continue moving, and he eventually turned into the exact same building that Nassir had turned into.

Both Casey and Sarah waited quietly for another thirty seconds making sure that no one else was coming and looked at each other, a silent conversation going on in between them. Casey jerked his head toward the building, and Sarah's eyes quickly flickered over to Chuck's form in the back of the van. Casey seemed to somehow understand what she was trying to say, and waved her off.

The blonde agent gave him a grateful look and opened the door, taking off after Parini. She ran across the street, her gun now held firmly against her side in case some ordinary citizen happened to catch sight of her. She reached the alley that would lead her to the back door and pulled her gun up into a firing stance scanning the alley for any sign of a hostile.

Back at the van Casey sat back watching Sarah to ensure that no one would sneak up on her, while she was trying to sneak up on Parini. Eventually Sarah moved out of his field of view, and Casey cocked his weapon flicking the safety off in the same motion. He turned back to Chuck before getting out of the van and said forcefully, "Stay," Casey opened his own side door of the van and jumped out into the street his feet landing heavily on the hard pavement. He turned away but paused and turned back towards Chuck and added, "Or else."

Chuck caught the unveiled threat very clearly and held his hands up to the agent in an attempt to let Casey know he planned on staying in the van this particular mission, "Don't worry about me. All I will be doing is looking at these beautiful little monitors over here."

The NSA agent stared at his asset for a few brief seconds and gave a grunt that showed his disbelief, "I will believe it when I see it," Casey paused letting the words sink into Chuck as if they were some kind of challenge that Casey hoped Chuck would take, "Anyway just keep an eye on mine, and Agent Walker's cams and look around for anyone coming in behind us. If you see anything suspicious at all, or flash you alert one of us immediately."

Chuck waved him off and put on the headphones attached to the cameras, "Yeah I know. Don't worry big dog I got you. You never have to fear when Chucks watching your back."

Casey looked at the now turned back of the nerd and snorted, "Then why for some reason does that fact that you are watching my back only serve to make me nervous," without waiting for a reply he slammed the door shut behind him and walked off towards the entrance of the building.

***

Inside the van Chuck gazed over the monitors in front of him, his arms crossed over his chest and his feet stretched out onto the surveillance equipment, "Look at me I'm Casey I like to yell at people, and have the social skills of a George Foreman grill," Chuck mocked.

"I can hear you moron," came Casey's voice from his headphones.

Chuck quickly pulled his feet down and realized he had inadvertently been hitting the button that transmitted his voice. He pushed the button with his finger this time and nervously spoke into the microphone, "Oh sorry Casey, didn't realize that you could hear me," Chuck grimaced at the stupidity of that statement, "I am also extremely sorry about the grill comment, but come on I was completely kidding. Everyone here knows that you are a social butterfly," a low growl started to come from Casey's microphone and Chuck quickly backtracked, "A very strong butterfly with AK-47s for wings," Chuck said hesitantly trying to gauge Casey's reaction.

Casey just continued to growl until he eventually said, "Just stay off the line unless whatever comes out of your stupid mouth happens to do with the mission."

"Will do sir," Chuck stated emphasizing the word, 'sir,' in a clear show of disrespect, and went back to silently monitoring the monitors.

***

Casey slowly made his way through the entrance to the abandoned office building his gun held in front of him searching the hallways around him for any sign of an enemy. He looked up and noticed a large chandelier hanging above the huge lobby. There was a wide staircase that led to three elevators at top and hallways that led both left and right. Above the elevators was a spot of wall that was a shade lighter than the rest, in Casey's mind he assumed that there must have been some kind of sign that had been taken off since the building had been abandoned.

Before the mission Casey had looked up the history and schematics of the building that the meeting was scheduled to take place in and had seen it had been formerly owned by a business company that specialized in electronics, "Figures," Casey said to himself. Ever since the Intersect had come into his life, it seemed like everything in his life revolved around computers.

"What was that Casey?" Chuck questioned through the small earpiece.

Casey swore under his breath but responded, "Nothing just watch the damn cameras," Casey quickly evaluated which part of the building the meeting would most likely take place in and decided to take a right towards the place where a majority of the offices were located.

While he made his way down the long hallway Casey peeked through the small windows into the empty offices on both sides looking for any sign of Nassir, or Parini. All of a sudden Casey's earpiece began to buzz and he could only catch parts of whatever was being said, "Casey… found… looks like… second floor."

Casey had heard enough to realize it was Agent Walker on the other end. At the mention of second floor Casey began to crouch down even farther to make himself a smaller target, and his finger now hovered in front of the trigger, ready at any moment, "Walker. I did not catch all of that. Repeat what you said," He was met with only silence from the other end, "Walker I say again repeat your last communication," again only silence greeted him.

He continued to make his way down the hall until he reached the end. Peering down the hallways, that led both left and right, Casey tried to see any sign of Walker. After listening and hearing nothing down either way he concluded that she wasn't down this way.

"Bartowski can you give me the position of Agent Walker?" he asked in a calm detached voice.

Silence met him on the other end once again, but eventually Chuck's voice came through, "She is on the second floor."

Casey grunted at the nerd, "I know that much. Could you be any less specific?"

"Well Casey actually I could be less specific. I could have told you that she is in the same building as you," Chuck stated sarcastically.

"Bartowski this is not the time. This is not one of your dumb little games. Now tell me where she is!" Casey's patience for the lanky man was clearly stretching thin.

"Okay. She is on the opposite side of the building from you. Just go straight back past the elevators and go till the end of the hallway," Chuck paused waiting for Casey to get to get to that location, "Okay then turn right and continue down the hall. At the end take a left and she should be right there."

The NSA agent didn't bother to respond as he could now hear two distinct voices in the distance. As he made the last turn he looked around trying to spot Agent Walker. He moved stealthily down the hallway looking for any sign of movement from the door at the end of the hallway, where the voices seemed to be coming from.

Out of nowhere the door the left of him shot open and a small hand grabbed him by the arm and dragged him inside.

The room was nearly pitch black and Casey could barely make out the outline of a women near the door, "Walker what the hell are you doing."

Sarah turned away from the door and slid down into a sitting position with her back against the wooden door, "Casey just shut up and listen. Nassir seems to have brought along some kind of jamming device, but I was able to place a low frequency bug next to the door that is unaffected by the jammer."

Casey nodded in acknowledgment and watched as Sarah pulled out a small receiver that transmitted the sound from the meeting place.

"So far they have only talked about how much it is going to cost. Other than that no real information has been exchanged yet," Sarah stated.

_***_

"Okay fine so we agree. The price will be negotiated after the mission is complete."Nassir's small and somewhat squeaky voice said to the hulking man that stood near him.

"Fine but you owe me big time for this one old friend_,"_ Parini said his deep voice booming throughout the small white room.

"Of course. But don't forget, the only reason you are alive right now is because of me," Nassir joked.

A small chuckle came from the former SEAL, "Just give me the damn target already. I hate operating in the States so I would rather get this done with as fast as possible. Any specifics on…" Parini stopped talking when a small beeping sound began to erupt from his coat pocket.

Nassir looked taken aback, "What is that?" he asked pointing to the small beeping device that Parini had pulled out of his pocket.

"This just told me that we have a bug somewhere within fifty meters of our current location," at the other mans blank look Parini gave a quick explanation, "This little device is able to hack into cell towers in the surrounding area and uses them to monitor all radio frequencies in the vicinity of whoever is carrying it."

At nearly the same time Parini finished making that statement the wooden door at the end of the room opened to reveal both Casey, and Sarah their guns pulled out and aimed directly the assassin.

Parini stepped away from the desk that Nassir sat behind and gave the two agents a smug look. He walked towards them holding his hands open showing them that he held no weapons and took a seat in the coach along the left side of the room. Nassir made no move and just continued to stand behind the lone desk in the room looking at his contact in confusion, "Why hello beautiful," Parini said looking directly at Sarah, "and who are you?" he asked Casey, "Her bodyguard."

Casey just grunted at him, "Put your hands above your head and slowly walk over to us, you too squeaky boy."

Parini held up his hand to the other man and started speaking, "I am sure we can come to some sort of agreement that doesn't involve any actual violence. After all, I like to think of myself as a civilized man and surely a gentleman, such as youself can appreciate that," he said referring to Casey.

The Casey's response was quick. He aimed his gun a few inches to the left and shot a hole into the couch right next to Parini's arm, "Trust me you don't want to keep me waiting for much longer."

"I actually agree with him on this. It would be best if you listen to the man," Sarah threatened, her gun now trained on the shaking man who still stood near the desk.

Parini chuckled at that and stood up having not even moved when Casey had shot the couch next to him. He put both of his hands up in the universal sign of surrender and began to move towards the door. When he was about five feet from Casey and Sarah he quickly shifted his weight and jumped at Casey his momentum taking both of to the ground.

Sarah quickly turned to help but Parini was already on his feet and had pulled out his own gun from inside the jacket, "If you try and stop me I will shoot him," he threatened his gun pointing down at a still stunned Casey's head.

Sarah stood still, her gun now pointing at Parini. She mentally went through her options, but the cold feel of metal against her right temple took her out of her thoughts. With all the commotion Sarah had forgotten about the other man in the room, "I think it would be best if you listened to the man," Nassir said echoing Sarah's earlier words.

Silently fuming Sarah lowered her gun to the ground and put her hands behind her head. From inside his coat Parini produced a long cord and proceeded to tie both Sarah and Casey together in the middle of the room.

Sarah and Casey were tied back to back, and were forced to watch Parini, and Nassir leave, "Now didn't I tell you that this would have worked out better for you if no violence was involved," the assassin mocked before closing the door behind him.

They sat there in silence both wondering how they were going to get out of this new mess.

As Casey struggled to free them both from the ropes Sarah realized something, "Casey when they left they took the jammer right?"

Casey suddenly stopped what he was doing, "Yeah. At least I thought they did."

"Then why has Chuck still not said anything."

Casey realized the road they were now going down, "If he was smart he got out of here and is at the Orange Orange. Hopefully…" he started but was stopped by the faint sound of a car horn from outside the building. After that the two could faintly hear the sound of gunshots, "You got to be kidding me, what is the idiot doing now?"

Preview: What is the idiot really doing and will it help the situation at all, or just make it worse?

A/N: Sorry about this. I know I promised some actual Chuck/Sarah talk during this chapter, but this got much longer than I expected it too, so I decided to make it a two part chapter. Anyways remember to review, I always will update faster if I continue to get good reviews!


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